


Mood Killer

by MidoriEyes



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Anal, BAMF Carlos, Bottom!Cecil, Cecil Baldwin - Freeform, Cecil is Inhuman, Comedy, Fingering, Fluff, M/M, Romance, SO MUCH FLUFF, carlos the scientist - Freeform, midorieyes, mood killer, perfect carlos - Freeform, sexy times included, top!Carlos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-19
Updated: 2013-11-11
Packaged: 2017-12-27 01:49:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,321
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/972897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriEyes/pseuds/MidoriEyes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Carlos takes Cecil out on a date that he planned all by himself! Will it be as romantic as he envisions, or a complete and utter failure? Includes fluff, smut, and heroic!Carlos. :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After Work

**Author's Note:**

> My first Cecilos fic. ;) Enjoy~!

"…So remember, kids - just say NO to traffic cones. Whatever they're trying to sell you may sound enticing, but it will only lead to your imminent destruction in the end, followed by a thirty-four year curse where everything you eat tastes like those gel inserts you put in your shoes which, to be quite honest, wouldn't be so bad if they had more flavors other than cherry and mushroom. Just let the cones do what they're supposed to do (whatever that is), and keep going about your daily lives.

And so, it is with this cautionary tale that I leave you, listeners. You know, despite the many hazards our little desert paradise faces from day to day, I think everyone does a pretty good job of keeping this town safe for future generations to come. Sure, I may update you on what dark happenings manifest throughout the cracks and crevices of societal corruption, but it's you, the good men, women, and anthropods of Night Vale, who enforce our sacred laws and make this place the best it can possibly be. Thank you, Night Vale. Thank you. And as always - goodnight."

Cecil waited until the musical drawl of the show's theme faded out before he took off his studio headphones and laid them carefully on the little hook stand that came with them. As soon as the glowing ON AIR sign dimmed, he grabbed his sweater and leapt out of the rolling chair, causing it to spin a few times on its axis. Normally he wasn't so hurried when leaving work - he loved his job, after all, and radio host Cecil Baldwin couldn't think of any other activity he would rather do than broadcast to the wonderful citizens of Night Vale. Well… maybe there was one other activity he could think of…

"Hey, Cecil. Ready to go?"

…A date with insanely handsome scientist extraordinaire - Carlos~! <3

"You bet I am!" Cecil chirped, exiting the building upon Carlos' polite gesture of holding the door open for him.

The night sky was speckled this evening with a fluorescent green pigment, this being the second time in a week, and it made for quite a spectacular light show. Fortunately, this would ward off the Glow Cloud until morning, for it did not enjoy being out-shined. Typically during this period, you'd see it hovering along the outskirts of town, waiting patiently to make its presence known within the psyche of Night Vale's residents once more.

Now, Cecil and Carlos could enjoy their outing free of any pesky mind control or raining dead animals.

"So, how was your day?" Their greetings always started out like this; a nice simple conversation in contrast to all the chaos that was Night Vale.

"T.G.I.F., as they say," Cecil chuckled. "The new intern arrived, and he seems very capable so far. His name's Joey. Apparently, he's a nephew of John Peters. You know, th--"

"The farmer? Yes, I know," Carlos smiled.

"Right! He's really helped me out by archiving all the audio files on our computer. I barley know how to work that thing, as you are well aware. Dana was the one who took care of all that hullabaloo when she was here." Cecil's shoulders slumped a bit. He did dearly miss his former assistant. They'd been through so much together in that crammed little studio, and now she was god knows where in a transdimensional realm of the Dog Park. At least it would look good on her resume.

Carlos recognized the drop in mood and placed a comforting hand on the radio host's back. "Any word from her since the last time she called you?"

"Well…" he perked up, "… there was a voicemail recently, but it was just a bunch of hissing and squishy sounds."

"'Hissing and squishy sounds'?"

"Yes. It was like two snakes making out in a heated tangle of passion."

"That's… one way to put it, I guess." Carlos coughed and slid a hand into his jean pocket. He had to give points for creativity. No one could come up with better descriptions for things than Cecil.

As they walked along the narrow sidewalk toward downtown Night Vale, the scientist took note of how lively the tree bark was this evening. It's usual behavior consisted of vibrating and squirming around like a colony of ants, but now it was nearly popping off the tree trunks like popcorn. Carlos chocked it up to the cold front that had come in last night, making the air a bit crisper than usual. He loved the cooler seasons, having lived in Toronto, Canada for a time (a place almost as strange as Night Vale), but Cecil practically had the blood of a reptile, which may or may not be actually true, and would worm his way into his companion's embrace for warmth just like he was doing now. Carlos wrapped an arm around the blonde and gave an affectionate squeeze. It seemed like hours had passed until Cecil continued the conversation.

"Anyway, enough about me. What did you do today? Anything exciting come up during your scientific endeavors?"

"Haha!" There's that curiosity Carlos loved so much. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that, besides trying to solve the mystery of where some misplaced books went, I spent almost the entire day planning out our date."

The news got Cecil so excited that the tattoos around his neck, face, and arms lit up for a brief second in a flash of violet. "Really? Oh, Carlos, that is so sweet of you!" he swooned.

"Well, I figured since you've always taken me places on our previous dates that I should do my part too, ya know?" He let out a bashful laugh that Cecil would normally lose his mind over if it weren't for the flood of emotions he was already experiencing.

"Look at you, mister!" Cecil playfully shoved his partner's arm. "Only in Night Vale for a year and a half and the guy knows his way around town as if he were the mayor or something."

"I did do a lot of research on what places would be an appropriate date setting. I don't even think you've been to some of them, Cecil."

"Oh? Why do you think that?"

Carlos shrugged, the amused grin on his face infectious. "Because a lot of them appeared overnight."

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Be Continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Their first stop was at a new bar that had just opened up (one of those appear-out-of-nowhere establishments Carlos had mentioned) called “The Mood Ring”, done in big color-changing letters with neon lights shaped to resemble the ring left behind from a cup stain. According to local gossip, the drinks at this place had the properties of an actual mood ring which, depending on the beverage you chose, would alter the persona of the customer. It sounded like a fun little experiment, and he was sure Cecil would get a kick out of it.

The couple walked in and took a seat at the bar, its surface emitting a faint white glow to help accentuate the colored liquid in the drinks when set down. It also casted some nice lighting along the contours of one’s face, which both Cecil and Carlos admired as they sat facing each other.

"So this place looks pretty neat," the blonde said while marveling at the glass columns of glittery water throughout the area.

"Yeah, I’ve heard good reviews. I’m curious to see the effects of these drinks and how long it lasts."

The radio host’s voice turned cross when he heard this. “Now, Carlos, you promised me that you wouldn’t conduct any sciencey stuff during our dates.” While Cecil enjoyed tagging along with Carlos on his scientific expeditions or helping out in the lab every now and then, they had mutually agreed to focus on their time together during special romantic outings such as this. Cecil could only bear studying the invisible clock tower for so long. He never understood why it was such a big deal, but perhaps it was all part of the hot, smart boyfriend package.

"Don’t worry, Cecil. The only notes I’ll be taking are up here," he pointed to his curly-topped head.

Oh, that hair… and that smile! The broadcaster took a hand and sifted through those wavy locks, a sense of disbelief overcoming him. It took an entire year to catch this Adonis of a man, but the chase was worth every second.

Before Carlos could ask his partner what was going through that brain of his, the bartender, a stout redheaded woman wearing a beaded headdress and shawl-covered tunic, approached from behind the counter.

"Hello, boys!" she greeted. Her voice was gritty and coarse, like someone who’d been smoking for many years, but it wasn’t unpleasant. "My name’s Hilda, I’ll be your server tonight unless you’d like switch out for someone else, in which case I’ll need you to fill out this form." She held up the sheet of paper for both of them to see, and when no one made a move she put it back in a filling rack behind her. Apparently this was a common requirement at most Night Vale bars for reasons Carlos didn’t care to inquire. "So, what can I do for you gents?"

"Well, Hilda, it’s actually our first time here." Cecil’s shoulders did a cute little wiggle, a sign of excitement.

"Is it now? You two are in for a treat then! Here…" she stepped away and directed their attention to a chart on the back wall that displayed what looked like a menu, "…are all the beverages we have here at The Mood Ring. I mix them myself. You’ll be able to tell which mood is which according to the color."

"Ahh, I see!" Cecil leaned in to read the flashy print.

Illustraverat ~ Black

Iratus ~ Red

Timidis ~ Orange

Strenuus ~ Green

Relaxantur ~ Cyan

Beata ~ Violet

Libidinosa ~ Rose

"Interesting." Carlos muttered to himself. "If you don’t mind me asking, why are those words in Latin?"

"You didn’t hear?" Cecil answered before Hilda had time to process the question. "Mayor Pamela Winchell issued a new law that calls for all menus to be written in Latin since we have a .02% Latin-speaking population here in Night Vale."

"Oh… right." Yet another puzzle that Carlos didn’t feel like solving. Nowadays he kinda just let these things be instead of pursuing the matter. It’d only lead to 10x more questions, anyway.

I guess we’re gonna play the guessing game then, he thought. What’s the worst that could happen?

"Hmmm, so many to choose from…" Cecil couldn’t read Latin (he was more fluent in Njerep thanks to old woman Josie who’d taught him as a child), and he didn’t know what any of the colors stood for, but each name sounded just as tasty as the next. Illustraverat had a nice ring to it, but so did Venereum. "What would you recommend, Miss Hilda?"

"Well, since you guys are first-timers, how about a Multi-Personality Disorder?"

Carlos was a bit wary as to how they were able to serve customers mental disorders until he saw Hilda point out a picture of eight shot glasses on the menu that were filled with the different colored concoctions. Ah, he thought.

"You get to try each of our drinks for the low price of $15. What’dya say?"

"I don’t know. That’s an awful lot of alcohol," Carlos said, biting his lip. Eight shots was more than he drank in college all six years he attended.

"Pfffft! Who said these were alcoholic, silly?"

That was news to him. “Well, as long as we’re still able to walk after this.”

"Oh, don’t worry, honey. They aren’t poisoned, unless you want them to be - haha!” Hilda laughed. This didn’t make Carlos feel better in the slightest, but there weren’t any dead bodies strewn about the bar so…

"Alright. We’ll take it."

"That’s the spirit!" Cecil cheered, batting him gleefully on the arm. The bartender nodded, just as thrilled.

"Coming right up, you two!"

After about five minutes of idle chit-chat and legs brushing against each other, the drinks came out placed on a transparent tray in one straight row. The inner perfectionist in Cecil purred at how Hilda had ordered them in terms of color.

"Enjoy! Holler if you need anything." Hilda smiled and left to take care of her other customers.

"Thank you, Hilda!" Cecil called out. He’d have to remember to mention her name and this charming little establishment in the next broadcast.

Carlos straightened his posture and rolled up his sleeves a quarter of the way. “Well, bottoms up, I guess?” He moved to grab a drink but was having trouble deciding on which he’d like to try first. “This might be a lot easier if I knew what they were.”

"Oh c’mon, that’s the fun of it! Here…" Cecil handed his partner the red glass. "Let’s start with this one, and then I’ll drink a different glass. Sound fair?"

"Yeah, that’s fine." Carlos swirled the liquid like one would a glass of wine and smelled it. No scent - odd, but not surprising. His boyfriend had started impatiently tapping his fingers on the counter, so it was now or never. The shot glass was thrown back, "Iratus" disappearing down Carlos’ throat faster than he’d intended. He coughed a bit after setting it back down and sat stone still as the concoction hit his stomach. And now the moment of truth.

Cecil pushed his pink rimmed glasses up and leaned in, studying the expression on his companion’s face for any sudden reaction. Anticipation had sunk it’s teeth into them both and wouldn’t let go.

After a good thirty seconds Carlos turned to face Cecil, his eyes still fixated on the now empty glass, and he paused, jaw agape, as if he couldn’t find the words to say. This often happened when the scientist’s brain was still rapidly calculating a situation before he could form a clear statement. Cecil had to push Carlos’ thought process over the edge by placing a hand on his khaki clad knee and asking, “Well? Do you feel any different, Carlos?”

Eye contact was finally made as his partner uttered a short, “No.”

"Oh…" What else was there to say?

"I mean, it kinda burned when it went down, but I don’t feel effected by it in any weird way, at least not yet. Maybe it takes a while to settle?"

"Maybe," Cecil shrugged, just as uncertain as the question in Carlos’ voice. "Or what if this one, ‘Iratus’, is supposed to relax you, which you already are most of the time. Perhaps it cancels out your own personality?"

"I don’t know… Let’s ask Hilda." Carlos turned in his seat to try and spot the bartender, but was greeted with a harsh ram into his shoulder by another person walking by.

The stranger, who happened to be a waiter, apologized in a deadpan voice. “Sorry, si—.”

"WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!" Carlos snapped.

…

Woah.

The waiter wasn’t phased at all by Carlos’ eruption. “Is there anything I can get for you, sir?” 

"NO. Now would you stop crowding me already? I feel like I can’t even breathe in here, jeez!"

"Carlos!" Cecil gawked.

"No problem, sir." The young man turned and continued on his way to the kitchen as if nothing had happened.

"Damn, what the hell is with the service in this place?" Carlos grumbled while brushing off his shoulder.

"Umm… Carlos?"

"What?" His tone was biting, but Cecil had a hunch as to why.

The broadcaster smiled coyly and leaned one elbow against the bar. “Notice anything different about yourself?”

"You mean the fact that I’m irrationally angry all of a sudden and every little things is starting to irritate me and wow I just realized that this may have something to do with the effects of that drink, goddamnit…” Carlos pressed a hand to his forehead, berating himself for not realizing it sooner.

"Bingo! You, my dear man, just drank liquid fury," Cecil laughed. "What fun! I’ve never seen you lose your temper before."

"Yeah, well don’t get used to it. Here…" The scientist picked up another shot glass and set it down in front of his giggling boyfriend with a hard clank. "Your turn."

"Ohh~ so forceful!" The radio host reached out to grasp the light blue mixture and downed it in one swig just like Carlos had. "I wonder what this one is gonna be?"

"Tch, who cares? Probably something as awful as mine."

"Okay, mister, I think it’s time to lose the grump, as much fun as it is seeing you rage." Cecil slid another glass over to him, swirling with a pitch black concoction that made Carlos hesitate bringing it to his lips. Nevertheless, he drank it.

Not a minute later, Cecil had suddenly slumped forward in his seat, upper body and arms splayed across the counter like your textbook drunkard, minus the drunk. At first, Carlos thought he’d gotten a sad-flavored mood, but Cecil’s face said otherwise when he smiled lazily and began chuckling to himself as if they were sharing inside jokes.

"Wow. I like this one," the radio host slurred.

Carlos let out a laugh of his own. “How are you feelings?”

"Great! It feels like…" Cecil propped an elbow up so he was facing his boyfriend. "… like my body is sleeping, but my mind is awake. You know?"

"Uhh, not really?" The scientist shrugged, noticing how Cecil’s legs were no longer propped on the stool’s foot bar and instead dangling back and forth like that of a giddy child.

"What about you?"

"I’m not sure, and it’s starting to worry me. What if there’s something wrong with this drink? Or worse… what if there’s something wrong with me?" Carlos’ eyes widened at his own self-proclamation, the tendons in his neck visibly tightening as he mulled over this horrific possibility. "We never should have done this. What if drinking too many of these at the same time causes an allergic reaction? I have to perform a special experiment tomorrow at the gas station that only appears once a month and I can’t miss that how the heck am I—"

"Carlos, Carlos. Just chill! Why are you stressing so much? This is a date, remember?"

"Why are you so relaxed?! Oh god my heart rate is going really crazy right now. Am I freaking out that badly?”

"Yes. Now, here, take this one." A violet liquid this time. "It’s the drink that’s affecting you."

"Ugh, why do I keep getting all the weird ones?" Carlos took the glass with his trembling hand and downed it in a jiff.

"Mmm, I really like how this one makes me feel. Maybe I’ll ask for another one later on. Or maybe I should order you one?" Cecil laughed while ingesting his own orange-colored beverage.

As luck would have it, Carlos finally got a break and ended up taking the mixture for happiness. The same could not be said for Cecil as he cowered underneath the bar counter, frightened of every noise he heard and every movement he saw. He was able to briefly forget about his fear when the scientist flashed him a gleaming, 100 watt smile, but it didn’t last long when Hilda popped up seemingly out of nowhere to check on them, sending Cecil into another panic. It was about this time that Carlos figured they should drink the last two glasses remaining before the broadcaster somehow gave himself a heart attack (even though Cecil said heart attacks were a “made up condition” that Strex Corp came up with to trick people into eating wheat and wheat by-products because, apparently, “they prevent heart attacks”.)

"Okay! Ready for our last drinks? I can’t wait to continue the rest of our date." Carlos passed the pink glass over, leaving himself with a green one.

"What do you mean by ‘last drink’? What’s going to happen after we drink this? Carlos, I need to know! Carlos—" In the process of desperately grabbing his partner’s arms, the shot glass was jarred from Carlos’ hands and shattered onto the ground. The noise made Cecil cry out, which caught the attention of their stone-faced waiter nearby.

"Well darn!" The scientist said in Cecil’s stead. However, his look of happy-guilt (if that was even a real emotion) turned to one of confusion, and then horror as the green liquid started sizzling and melted through the floor like a deadly acid. "Ummm…"

"I’ll take care of it," the waiter said, quickly removing the ruined tile and replacing it with a new one he had on hand.

"Thank you..?" Carlos wasn’t sure if the drink reacted like that because of the surface it was spilled on, or if he was just saved from certain death thanks to Cecil’s irrational fear. Either way, his chipper mood had suddenly deflated from the shock. "Well, I guess it’s just you then, Cecil."

The slimmer man shivered when he looked down at his rosy beverage. “Are you sure? What if something bad happens?”

"Don’t worry, you should be fine. I’ll be right here in case anything stranger than usual happens, okay?”

"O-okay. But only because you say so."

This last concoction was called "Libidinosa", according to the menu. Carlos mused over what it could possibly be while a spooked Cecil drank and braced for impact. They’d gone through anger, relaxation, stress, fear, happiness, and who knows what that green one would’ve been. So what was left? Apparently, they’d never find out, because it’d been five minutes and the effects refused to take hold.

"Odd. This one’s taking longer than the others."

"Yeah, seems that way. Excuse me, Hilda!" Carlos called to the redhead at the end of the bar. She made her way over with towel she’d been using to wipe the counter.

"What’s up, boys? Enjoy your drinks?"

"Yes, they were quite interesting, but we had a question about this one here - Libidinosa." The bartender nodded when he saw the glass with only a couple drops of rosy liquid left. "It’s not effecting my partner here in any way. Is that normal?"

Hilda’s eyes went from Cecil to the glass a couple times before a coy smile grew across her face like a well told lie. “Oh, it works, alright. Tends to take a little longer than the others, yes, but you’ll be feeling the effects soon enough, hun. Probably within the next twenty minutes or so.”

"Twenty minutes?" Carlos asked, wincing.

Cecil noticed this. “What’s wrong?”

"Well, it’s just that the next destination for our date is a bit… time sensitive. We need to be there in about ten minutes."

"Oh, is that all? Then let’s go ahead and pay. We can get there in time."

"What about the drink? It’s going to stick with you all night unless—"

"Not to worry, dear!" Hilda chimed in. "We have a special elixir that’ll turn you right back to normal whenever you so desire." She handed Carlos a small thumb-sized bottle filled with clear liquid. He thumbed the cork seal off and took a whiff of the substance. No scent, but that didn’t necessarily make the scientist any less skeptical.

"So all he needs to do is drink this and he’ll be ‘cured’, so to speak?"

"That’s right."

"What if he didn’t take it. Do the effects ware off at some point?" He asked purely for his own curiosity.

"Indeed they do, but in his case you’d have to wait until the light of the next morning."

"Sunrise - got it. Then we’ll take the check now, please."

"Coming right up!" The place wasn’t packed, so it didn’t take long for Hilda to ring them up and send the companions on their way with a big cheery smile, her one silver-crowned tooth that hadn’t been there before gleaming in the bar light. "Y’all come back again, ya hear?"

"We will, Miss Hilda! Thank you!"

Cecil stepped outside first and observed that the tree bark was no longer fidgeting like it had been earlier. The sheriff’s secret police had already come around and covered the trunks with cozy-looking handwoven warmers that saved them from the icy air. Each of them had different designs for aesthetic appeal, the broadcaster’s favorite being one with a cats and hearts pattern. It reminded him of Khoshekh, with its little gray stripes and yellow eyes. It was one of the few warmers that didn’t have sentient pictures on them that tried to lure you into helping it keep the tree warm. There were already one or two tree-huggers across the street who’d been suckered into the warmer’s devious ploy. They’d snap out of it as long as another person walked by and touched them on the back.

"So where to now?" Cecil asked, sticking his freezing fingers into Carlos’ coat pocket as they strolled.

"The Night Vale Planetarium. I heard they finished with the renovations, so I immediately scheduled a private viewing of their new star-gazing show. It’s booked for three months after that." Carlos allowed himself to be a bit proud once he heard Cecil’s delighted gasp. He wouldn’t tell Cecil about how he had to somewhat bribe the manager for this arrangement to become reality, but hey - it’d be totally worth it.

"Carlos, you’ve really outdone yourself with this date! Going through all this trouble…" The radio host praised while nonchalantly patting the back of a tree-hugger as they passed by. The older man shook his head and separated himself from the warmer, continuing to go about his business as if nothing happened.

"Naw," he shrugged, sheepishly. "It’s never too much trouble when it comes to you, Cecil."

"Such a charmer~"

The couple shared a quick kiss, the sound of whispering tree-warmers echoing all around them in what, strangely enough, set a rather romantic mood for all the wandering lovers of Night Vale.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be continued!


End file.
